It has been hard choosing my top ten films of the year. So many great choices but so little spots. Enough of my banter.....

The time has come.....

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2004:

#10. The Terminal
One of Spielberg's very best films, fusing joy, seniment, and incredible acting. Hanks is joyously great as Viktor Navorski, a man who cannot leave JFK airport. Great acting from the supporting roles: Stanley Tucci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chi McBride, Zoe Saldana, and others.

#9. Collateral
From the director of Heat and Manhunter, Michael Mann brings us closer to the true aspect of Los Angeles: dark, bitter, and oh-so-fucking cool. Tom Cruise gives a career best performance as the cold hearted Vincent while Jamie Foxx gives an excellent dramatic performance as Max playing Yin to Cruise's Yang. Remarkable action sequences and a splendid script round off this completely mesmerizing tale of a hitman who knows how to do his job well. EXTREMELY WELL.

#8. Kill Bill: Volume 2
The second chapter to Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus "Kill Bill." Uma Thurman knocks up her acting a notch to give one of the best female performances of the year. David Carridine resurrects himself as the calmly cool but yet extremely deadly Bill. Supporting cast includes Darryl Hannah, who gives a cold hearted bitchiness to her role that's great, and a gruff Michael Madsen who gives a solid performance as Bill's brother Budd. Makes the first chapter seem complete and dare I say it, even better.

#7. Closer
Mike Nichols' masterpiece after his Emmy-winning "Angels in America." Give four shitty actors this type of script and they will tear it apart. Give it to four incredibly talented actors and they take it to a entirely incredible new level. From the four actors, Clive Owen stands out head and shoulders from the bunch as the sadistic asshole, Larry. Julia Roberts gives her most underrated performance ever while Jude Law and Natalie Portman both give the film a certain type of excellence that you can only see in these type of films.

#6. Garden State
What the fuck is Zach Braff still doing on "Scrubs"? He should be fucking directing and his debut is simply magnificent. Braff's directing gives a simplicity anyone can enjoy while a true moviegoer can cherish. Natalie Portman again steals the film as the charming and adoringly cute Sam while Peter Sarsgaard gives another incredible performance as Mark, Braff's brash but yet gentle friend.

As we go into the top 5, this list may change. I still haven't seen the critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood film, "Million Dollar Baby," or Martin Scorsese's love letter to Howard Hughes titled "The Aviator."

#5. House of Flying Daggers
Simply the most beautiful film of the year. Splendid visuals, excellent acting, and a great story round up this amazing wuxia motion picture from Zhang Yimou. I found this film even more exciting, more moving, more powerful, and more amazing than Hero. Zhang Ziyi is a sight to behold while Takeshi Kaneshiro gives power and grace to his character. Andy Lau gives an excellent performance as the cold and stoic Leo. I hate to say this but I've grown to love the ending (I've already seen the film 8 times on DVD). I hated the ending the first time I saw it but on a more lyrical level it is definitely beautiful and poetic. Like a sad love song, it poignantly ends but it ends perfectly.

#4. The Incredibles
Definitely the most fun and entertaining film of the year. Crushes "Shrek 2" in terms of complexity, sassiness, entertainment, and most of all, heart. Loved it from beginning to end and absolutely the best Pixar as yet to offer!

#3. Sideways
The best American film of the year while also being the funniest film of the year. PERIOD. Paul Giamatti should be awarded the Academy Award with his performance but also Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen (if she loses, I'll destroy the Academy). This is Alexander Payne's best film since......I don't know....never. This film deserves all the awards it's been getting.

#2. Oldboy
Mindfuck, n.
1) A mind being screwed with, toyed (aka FUCKED). 2) Oldboy, a film directed by Park Chan-Wook.

Definitely the most fucked up film I've seen since Takashi Miike's Audition. Choi Min-Sik gives the most powerful performance of the year as the emotionally tortured Oh-Daesu (which means just Mr. in Korean, we never know his real name), while Ji-tae Yu is absolutely brilliant as the notorious baby-faced Lee Woojin. The less you hear about this film, the more you will get out of it. Go into this film purely without knowing anything and you will be blown away. But the best thing is the fucking ending, oh god, the fucking ending. Hollywood never makes endings like this and you'll see why. The ending will leave you breathless for days on end and in many ways, change the way you see films forever.

What can be my best film I've ever seen this year? Well, my best film wasn't even released in 2004, shit, it was even released two years ago? So why am I putting it here? Because I saw it on January 1st, 2004 and it completely changed me. This film is purely the reason why I want to work in films.

MY NUMBER ONE FILM OF 2004

Infernal Affairs
Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak

This motion picture truly changed me. I don't know what to write about this film. It truly earns the spot in my list of the best films ever shot, ever acted, and ever made. I'm not ashamed to say this but Infernal Affairs is definitely the best film I have ever seen. Nothing else comes close to the images and sounds that come out of this film. I have already this film over 20 times on DVD and pick up something new with each and every viewing. This is utter perfection on the screen, ever goddamn inch of it. I knew only the plot of the film before viewing and I was blown away after it was over. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai gives not only his best performance on screen but one of the best performances ever by an actor as the emotionally tortured and beaten Yan, an undercover cop whose been with the triads for 10 years. Andy Lau gives his finest performance as the triad going undercover as a cop Ming. Ming on the other hand isn't tortured or beaten, he's living the good life, the awesome life, the best life anyone can have. He has a beautiful fiancee, he buys expensive audio equipment, and is being promoted to the higher ranks of the police force. He is everything Yan wishes to be. Other than Leung and Lau, every actor gives their career best on this film: Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Dion Lam, Chapman To.

But what truly makes this film stand out from the rest is the ending. If Oldboy blew my mind with its ending, Infernal Affairs simply made my entire body implode. As I wrote for Oldboy, Hollywood doesn't make these type of endings and they won't. Infernal Affairs takes an enormous risk with its ending but the payoff is so great and so incredible that it brought tears to my eyes. The ending is not sugar-coated but true. It is heart-breaking and sad but is also redemptive of every shitty film you've ever seen. This film is a masterpiece from beginning to end from balls to bone. I always cry when the film is finished because it's just so goddamn fucking good. This film is beyond perfection, it is awesome, it is spectacular, and definitely not only the best film of the year. It is one of the best films of all time. No, in my opinion, it is the best film ever made.

The reason why I want to become a filmmaker
The reason why HK cinema has exploded once again.
The reason why Scorsese is making the god forsaken remake.
And the reason why we watch films in the first place.